The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-04-01

It was In the window Of an instru-
ment-maker's shop "a Handsomely
wrought silver box that, from it, shape
and general appearance, might pass -
receptacle for matches or for snnR.
That It was not intended for either
purpose was evident from the articles
surrounding il. A question addressed
to the man ut work behind the counter
brought him to the window, where,
after adjusting his speetacles more
firmly ON his nose, he finally succeeded
In discovering the novelty referred TO,
and drew Il out with . hOok-rod
''This," he said, els one Of the new
est Of my own Inventions, and though
Il be but q small thing its price Il q
big thing. or would be 70 some people.
Do you know, SIR" he Confined,
shat that little trinket Is worth -.
And tiny as it is it can do more dam
age than its Innocent looks imply.
This Is 4 mOrphia case, and though we
sell few to doctors, the greater num-
Der Of sales are TO people who are adj
dicted to the morphia habit
This little spring on the bottom OF
the box opens the lid without the
slightest noise, and by pressing it
again when closing it win produce
q similar result" Here he gave q
short exhibition of how noiselessly the
act Of opening or closing It might be
done. "N0w, You know, q doctor
would not especially desire such .
case, but with the people who have
formed this habit it is essential that in
indulging it they should not be noticed
by others. As It is frequently neces-
sary for them to apply il when on the
street or while travelling In the, cars we
must comply with their wishes and
make these cases and their contents
as harmless and innocent in appear
Ance as possible. ... w..
I'VE have adopted the silver match
box shape and this noiseless catch on
this account.
"In this first compartment" the in
strument maker continued, as he
pointed 70 the first of the three parts
into which the box was divided. "the
wires for pointing the injector are
kept. In the second Is q small vial Of
morphia, in the third Is q dainty little
silver injector. which looks more like q
ipencii-case than the harmful thing Il In
Now, sir, you see how easily man can
put the desired quantity into. the in
iector at home and when outside how
easily he can puncture his skin and in
ject the drug"
This little lecture upon the quaint
instrument aroused the curiosity of the
reporter, and on his way home. late At
night, he stopped at well-known drug
store on q prominent street to ask
something about the drug itself. There
he learned that the usual amount used
by physicians in their practice, when
necessity for hypodermic injection of
morphia occurred, was from one-fourth
30 one-eighth Of grain; that the drug
was really the active principle Of
opium, and that its indulgence as .
habit was extremely dangerous.
1.-The class Of people" said the ex-
perienced night-clerk, '.who are fire.
quently found through sudden deaths
or accidents that expose the truth to
have been addicted to mOrphia are
mostly men who are living In high
pressure style. The lower class, and,
In fact, many Of the upper class Of So
ciety, and professional people are
forming the habit i know q promi-
nent druggist in the eastern States
who used It steadily for years, and
when he died suddenly from its effects
his arms and legs were found to be lit
orally blackened where the skin had
been punctured while using the in
jectOr. Every night someone comes In
here for IL. We sell greater amount
to ladies, and mostly young ladies,
than to men. Who they are or 70
what class they belong l can not tell.
as they only 60 at intervals to one
store, and in this business curiosity
would be bad fault.
cit Is hard to tell Just how much
one who has become habited to this
drug can stand, as 1t depends mainly
upon the length of time they have been
INDUCING in it. This Is true in every
habit, and the longer they use IL the
more IL necessary to affect them. The
habit is evidently growing. and Il
may some day need legislation to pre-
vent it from becoming rs popular as the
use Of opium Is in China "-&. Roal
(1lObe